As always, I will warn you, I will be spoiling this game. If you want to play it for yourself, you can download it at the game's wiki here. And with that out of the way, let's rock!
Welcome to Agassiz Town, the desert oasis town! Like the part of Route 308.5 that leads to it, the town is obscured by a sandstorm. It's led to something minor about this place that does annoy me a bit. You see, every time you leave a building here, you have to put back on your Go-Goggles. I think the idea is that it's supposed to be a bit more realistic. When you go into a building to shelter from a storm, the storm doesn't magically go away. I do get it, it's just a bit annoying.
Naturally, I went over to the Pokémon Center to rest up my Pokémon. There's a man there who is called the Custom Move Tutor. He can teach your Pokémon what's called the Custom Move, which has 70 base power, 100% accurate, and has 15 power points (The Pokémon can use it 15 times before you have to use an item or the Pokémon Center to restore them), and it can poison Pokémon. It's basically a physical-type version of the move called Hidden Power. Players can customize the move's type. It can be Fire, it can be Water, Rock, Grass, any type you want...except Fairy for some reason.
Nearby the town, in the northeast, there's an area in which you can access a Secret Base!
The man there is fleeing a Dunsparce infestation. He gives me TM43: Secret Power. This move allows us to enter Secret Bases from various places all over Vesryn. Let's go inside!
True to the man's statement, there are wild Dunsparce roaming around. There's also a computer to check your Pokémon collection and a healing fountain. The man there allows you to purchase various upgrades for your Base. There are a variety of upgrades, including item shops and Trainers to help you level up your Pokémon.
One of the houses in town has a child inside who wants to trade her Surskit for a Sandshrew. Surkits are evidently rare to get around here (makes sense, it's a water-skimming Pokémon and we're in a desert), but she wanted a Sandshrew. It's not hard to see why. There are catchable wild Sandshrew all over the place. Makes sense she'd see them everywhere and end up wanting one. I mean, Sandshrew are pretty cute.
You know what I always found funny? Sandshrew are referred to a Mouse Pokémon, but their desert habitats and ability to curl up into balls, not to mention their general look, makes them resemble armadillos more than mice.
You know, the kid didn't want a Surskit. The parents talked about how hard it was to get that Surskit for the kid, even though she wanted a Sandshrew. Just get her the Sandshrew! There's a bunch of them wandering around the town! It's not like they're hard to find. Well, I'll take it off her hands. I caught one of the wild Sandshrew in the town and traded it for her Surskit. Nearby the town's Poké Mart is a house where you can get TM21: Frustration.
Frustration is a Pokémon technique that is very powerful if the Pokémon that uses it is not very close to you. What I mean by that is that the Pokémon is one that you have not had spent much time with and have not really built a bond with them. You build bonds with your Pokémon by traveling and winning battles with them. I don't really see the point of this move. Isn't friendship one of the themes of the Pokémon franchise? You know, building bonds and caring about others? Why would there be a move based on how emotionally distant you and a Pokémon are? Return is a move that makes sense, as it fits the theme of friendship, but Frustration? That just seems weird to me.
There is a small cave right near the Poké Mart.
Unfortunately, we can't go in there quite yet. Hey, maybe we can go in after we beat the Gym! The Gym Leader's name is Jonathan, and he's a Rock-type specialist. Rock-types are vulnerable to Ice, Grass, Water, and Ground-type Pokémon. Hey, my Weepinbell, Seadra, and Gabite would really wreck this dude's day. Let's go pay him a visit.
Oh. He's...busy at the moment. Hey, wait...isn't that...a Team Olympus goon?! My God, these guys are like cockroaches! What're they doing here?! What could they possibly be after in this place?! Well, there's one thing in town they might be interested in: The Psychic Tower.
Like Kariba Town for humans, the Psychic Tower is basically a big rest stop for Psychic-type Pokémon. It's a place where they can relax and recharge their powers. It does make sense that Olympus might be interested in it. There may be tons of Psychic Pokémon in that Tower. A lot of potential power The top floor of the Tower is closed off at the moment, but the rest of the Tower is still open.
And the area is infested with Team Olympus goons. It reminds me of Team Rocket taking over the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town back in Red and Blue. I wonder if this is meant to be a homage. Anyway, the Tower is crawling with Team Olympus goons. However, they're not that tough. Most of them have only one Pokémon each. I'm not joking. I walked through most of them. You'd think that an evil organization like Team Olympus would make sure their goons had more than one Pokémon on them just in case.
To be fair, I liked that the goons had a nice variety of Pokémon on them. And fighting them allowed me to get some extra cash to upgrade my Secret Base.
Also, some of their dialogue is pretty funny. One claimed that he had a family to feed. And another joined purely for the health insurance.
Really makes you wonder, though. How bad are the legit businesses here that you have to turn to a criminal organization to get decent health insurance? I mean, there needs to be some reform here. Serious reform. Anyway, on the third floor, there's some activity going down.
These Team Olympus goons want to get up to the top floor, but the cop is like, "Nope." You see, a dangerous Pokémon has taken root at the top of the Tower, and going up may not be the safest thing to do right now.
(just sayin')
The salad-headed man in the lead is like "We know, Keystone Kop! That's why we're here! We want that Pokémon!" We learn the green-haired man is named Artemis, as another man tells him to back off and leave the guard alone. He's just doing his job after all. The man taunts him about not visiting the Gym. Evidently, Jonathan and Artemis were friends once. The man turns out to be Jonathan himself, and Artemis asks how he got out of prison early.
My theory is that Jonathan and Artemis were criminals together, and then they ended up in prison together where they fell out. Jonathan got out early thanks to good behavior. And in a surprisingly dark turn for a Pokémon game, it was hinted that Jonathan ended up in jail because of the murder of a family...including a six-year-old kid on their birthday.
Yeah. Here's the thing. The Pokémon franchise is no stranger that can be considered scary or fodder for a horror film. Heck, go read some Pokédex entries some time. I guarantee you, you think about some of them, you'll get a good scare. Implied dark stuff is nothing new to this franchise, but this is likely the most outright explicit dark stuff I've seen in a Pokémon game. You never see stuff like this in an official Pokémon game.
Artemis decides to take his leave, taunting Jonathan by saying that he'll tell his parole officer about their encounter. After all, threatening people would not make the Gym Leader look good in the eyes of his parole officer. Well, that just happened.
I think I'd better get back on track. As I said earlier, Jonathan is a Rock-type specialist. Rock is weak to Grass, Water, Fighting, Steel, and Ground. I can keep my Weepinbell, Seadra, and Gabite on the team, and they can be my three main weapons against him. I can also bring back out my Ivysaur and Diglett for this, as they're Grass/Poison and Ground-type, respectively. I have a lot of options here. Perhaps too many options, heh heh.
I went inside the gym, and...
...HOW IS THERE A SANDSTORM IN HERE?! SERIOUSLY! There's a sandstorm going in here! Did Jonathan leave the windows open?! Does he have some special-effects tech to do this?! Why does he have a sandstorm raging in this building?! He's bound to have violated a whole bunch of building codes by doing this! What is wrong with this guy?!
Anyway, I left the Gym to look over my Pokémon collection at the local Pokémon Center. I did notice that I didn't have a lot of Water-type Pokémon. I thought that maybe I didn't do any fishing, so I did a bit of backtracking. I went back to Route 308, hoping that maybe doing some fishing there would get some more Water-type Pokémon to fight Jonathan with. It was there that I found an item.
It's a Revive. A useful item in battle, as it can, well...revive a Pokémon that had fainted. Unfortunately, despite there being water at Route 308, I can't fish there. I tried several spots, but I could not fish. I kept getting a "Can't use that here" message. On the other hand, I did manage to beat some Trainers I missed on the way to Agassiz Town. Got some extra money and powered up my Seadra and Weepinbell a bit. It is a shame, as some more Water Pokémon would be great to catch here. Like, maybe wild Squirtles or something. Just a thought.
To take on Jonathan, I decided to bring in my Poliwag and Ivysaur. They can back up my Weepinbell and my Seadra.
With a new team of Pokémon to fight Jonathan, I need to train them up. I did consider getting a Trainer at my Secret Base. You can purchase a trainer to help grind up your Pokémon there, after all. However, he charges money for battle, so that option was out. That was a bit frustrating. So, I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way: Backtrack to Route 308. It wasn't too bad, though. Thanks to my bicycle, it was a quick trek. I love my bicycle.
Thankfully, Route 308 is filled with Ground and Rock-type Pokémon, so I had little trouble grinding up Poliwag and Ivysaur. In fact, it was kind of fun. One trainer on the route was named Ronald, and he was notable because his team comprised of Quilava, Croconaw, and Bayleef. They're the first evolutions of the starter Pokémon of Generation II (Pokémon Gold and Silver). He lamented that he got them from Professor Elm after I beat him. ...how did he get all three starters from him? I also battled the trainers in Jonathan's gym.
The Gym itself is basically like a maze, with rocks in the way.
Thankfully, you don't need any special items to destroy the rocks. The path through the gym is like a maze. You have to go back and forth on the paths to get to the Gym Leader. As you go through the path and break the rocks, you have to battle the other trainers at the Gym. Get your Pokémon some extra experience on the way. One of the trainers there had a team of fossil-based Pokémon: Omanyte, Kabuto, and Lileep.
Once you make your way through the maze, you reach Jonathan himself. Make sure you get some supplies beforehand, like Potions and other healing items. Why? Well, Jonathan's gym has a sandstorm raging inside it somehow, and it will damage your Pokémon. Well, any non-Ground type ones at least. And with that, let's do this!
1st Pokémon: Rhyhorn (Lv. 27) - Defeated by Ivysaur with Sleep Powder/Razor Leaf combo.
2nd Pokémon: Onix (Lv. 27) - Jonathan used a Super Potion and a Hyper Potion on this Pokémon. Defeated by Ivysaur with Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, and Razor Leaf.
3rd Pokémon: Graveler (Lv. 28) - Defeated Ivysaur. Defeated by Poliwhirl with Bubblebeam.
4th Pokémon: Larvitar (Lv. 28) - Defeated Poliwhirl. Defeated by Weepinbell with Vine Whip.
Jonathan takes the loss very well. In fact, he seemed to be unbothered by it. He is thankful for the battle, as after that whole thing with Artemis, he needed to vent some frustration. He awards me my third badge: the Diamond Badge. It lets me use HM01 (Cut) outside of battle. And it will grant me access to the Fianga City Gym! And as is tradition, I also get a Technical Machine: TM80 (Rock Slide). Jonathan hopes we can battle again sometime. This was nice.
And I think that's where we'll stop for now. Next time, I plan to return to Fianga City to challenge the fourth Gym. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Take care of yourself and each other, stay safe, and remember to wash your hands often and go out only if you absolutely have to. See you next time!
Pokémon Obtainted:
Agassiz Town
- Surskit
Secret Base
- Dunsparce
Psychic Tower
- Solosis
- Hypno
- Elgyem
Route 308.5
- Poliwhirl (evolved from Poliwag)
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